Report warns of high costs if Medicare expanded to cover anti-obesity drugs

The cost of expanding U.S. Medicare prescription drug coverage to pay for expensive, new obesity medications could be catastrophic, health economists warn in a new study, Reuters reports. Big-selling diabetes drugs have been repurposed as obesity treatments after demonstrating weight loss of more than 20% in clinical trials. Once-weekly injections of Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, for example, cost more than $13,000 per year after rebates and discounts.